Neckties are commonly worn by men, and occasionally by women. Although styles change, a common problem for the wearer is if the tie is not secured to the wearer's garment, generally the front of a shirt or blouse, the tie may blow in the wind, or become soiled when the wearer is eating, leans forward, and the loose tie contacts the wearer's meal.
The prior art contains numerous references to devices for securing a tie to a wearer's garment. Some devices, such as tie tacks, puncture the tie when attaching it to the garment. Tie clips (or tie bars) may damage the surface of the tie, or restrict movement of the wearer. Other devices have been described for individuals who want to attach a tie to their garment, but do not want any device to be visible when the tie is viewed by someone facing the individual, so as not to disrupt the visual effect of the tie.
For example, Helm (U.S. Pat. No. D49,184) discloses a handkerchief supporting device, comprising a loop and a clip connected by a chain.
Alvardo-Lopez (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 317,275) discloses a necktie holder comprising an open ring into which a tie label is inserted, and a button hole insertion rod, the open ring and insertion rod being connected by a chain. In the present invention, the flexible connecting means encircles the tie label, thereby securing the necktie.
Bower, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,003) discloses a necktie holder attached to the underneath fold of the outer appearing end of the necktie, and is attached to the garment by a bar inserted through a button hole.
Grant (U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,710) discloses a tie tack for flexibly securing a tie to the shirt of a wearer. The tie tack has a cross-bar member for insertion into the button hole of a shirt for securing the tack thereto. A flexible thread extends between the cross-bar and a releasable fastener. A second releasable fastener is attached to the back surface of the tie adjacent the wearer. When the tie includes a loop, label or such that allows the small back portion of the tie to pass therethrough for securing the two portions together, the fastener is attached to the back surface thereof. The fastener is permanently affixed to the back surface of the tie. The present invention, by contrast is removable and does not require permanent attachment to the tie.
Ray (U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,284) discloses a tie retaining device that attaches to the left and right side rear fold members of a tie. Embodiments of the device each have an elongated wire-like member having pointed tips on each of its ends for penetrating the rear fold members of the tie. A tethering chain has its one end attached to the wire-like member and its other end attached to a button-hole anchor bar that is detachably inserted into the button hole of a shirt. The present invention, in contrast, encircles the tie label and does not penetrate the fabric of the tie.
Swift (U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,021) discloses a necktie manager having a bar for insertion into a buttonhole of a shirt, a short chain and a wire clamping member which is formed of a fixed length of a spring-like metal. The clamping member grips the tie on the rear face of the tie, such that the necktie manager is generally not visible. The present invention encircles the tie label, thereby securing the necktie.
Several devices have been described that attach to the garment proximate a button, but which do not enter the wearer's garment. Such devices include:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,800 (Less) which discloses a tie anchor comprising an aperture which engages a shirt button, and a circular portion attached to the tie back, such that the tie anchor is not visible from the front.
Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,993) discloses a necktie holder comprising a loop that can surround a complete necktie, or the back piece of the necktie, and which comprises an opening through which a shirt button can pass, fastening the tie to the shirt.
Casstevens, Jr. et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,681) discloses a tie anchor designed to hold a tie in place by anchoring the device to the button threads, comprising a locking means to prevent the holder from slipping from anchoring engagement with the threads when in place, and a fold retaining structure connected with the anchoring portion and including an elongate horizontal clamp bar that is connected at one end with the anchoring portion and a retaining means carried at the other side of the anchoring portion and extending forwardly toward the free end of the horizontal clamp bar for retaining the folds in place.
Missakian (U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,327) discloses a tie holder of one-piece resilient wire construction having an elongated loop-like portion engageable with a shirt button and a pair of U-shaped members generally defining a loop. The members have individual legs which are in substantial alignment and provide free ends which overlap and which are bent to form pincers adapted to grip the back of a tie. The present invention encircles the tie label, thereby securing the necktie.
Several devices described in the prior art require that they be permanently affixed to the necktie. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,576 Prince, Jr. discloses a buttonslot necktie fastener which is permanently fastened to the back side of a necktie loop-label. The fastener is oriented parallel to the necktie allowing the narrow section of the necktie to be captured in between the wide section of the necktie and the loop-label with the permanently affixed buttonslot necktie fastener, which is then attached to a garment using two buttonholes.
Durante (U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,821) discloses a necktie fastening device having a loop pile strip with two button holes for fastening to a shirt front. The loop pile strip has an outer surface and an inner surface which has an open topped pocket attached thereto in order to place an article or the like to be hidden from sight. A hook pile strip is placed between the designer label and the necktie so that when the loop pile strip and the hook pile strip are in position to be mated surface to surface, the necktie is secured and the necktie fastening device is not visible from the front.
Swain (U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,579) discloses a tie restraint apparatus for holding a tie tail portion of a neck tie at the front surface of a shirt. The tie tail is an elongated end portion of a neck tie and includes a transversely extending fabric strip (loop, or label) which is secured at spaced apart sites to a back surface of the tail portion. The tie restraint apparatus includes an elongated plastic strip having an opening at each spaced apart location for support by attachment to spaced apart buttons on the front portions of the shirt. The plastic strip is permanently attached to the neck tie, and it is dimensioned to extend between the fabric strip and the tail portion of the neck tie for centrally positioning and restraining movement of the tail portion of the neck tie at the front portion of the shirt.
Graef (U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,785) discloses a tie fastener including three identical strips of flexible material joined together at one end. An inner strip is buttoned to a shirt, using two buttons; an outer strip is fed through the loop-label of the tie, and is secured to one of the buttons securing the inner strip. An optional intermediate strip interposed between the inner and outer strips serves to cover a shirt button and prevent the loop-label of the tie from catching on the button.
Campelia et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,708) disclose a method for using a neck apparel restraining device with a neck apparel item for restraining movement of the neck apparel, in which the restraining device comprises a soft pliable member having first and second elongated buttonhole openings proximate its first and second ends, respectively. The device is passed through the loop-label of a necktie. The longitudinal centers of the device's buttonhole openings are separated a predetermined distance for releasably engaging with first and second uniformly spaced fastening buttons on the front of the shirt of a wearer. The device permits vertical movement of the neck apparel along the restraining device.
Other devices to secure ties have been described. Chennault (U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,457) discloses a neckwear anchoring device which is received by a tie loop and attaches to the button threads of selected buttons on the shirt or blouse of the wearer. The device is made of a relatively flat material and has substantially symmetrical attachment members, which engage the button threads by sliding behind the button without having to insert the button through a buttonhole. The device allows limited horizontal and vertical movement of the tie, such that the tie is effectively anchored and lays flat and smooth on the wearer's garment.
Walker (U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,221) discloses a necktie holder comprising a flexible filament with two end portions, one end portion is affixed to the decorative strip of fabric on the back of the necktie and the other end portion intended to be secured in the nearest adjacent buttonhole on a shirt front. An embodiment of the device embodiment attaches to the tie by a clip mechanism; other embodiments are permanently attached to the tie by piercing the tie fabric.
Voiles (U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,438) discloses a method for restraining the tail of a necktie to the front of a shirt, using a device which is a longitudinal strip of flexible material with a sewn longitudinal button hole on one end and a circular hole on the other end. The device is attached to a button of the wearer's shirt, passed through the tie loop, and the other end of the device attached to the button.
McNamara discloses several embodiments of a tie restraint in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 399,171 and 6,131,200. An embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,200 comprises an upper end, a lower end, a body connecting the two ends, with the body containing a multiplicity of notch pairs. The lower end contains a loop entry into which the upper end is inserted, drawing the body through while capturing the label of the necktie within the loop formed thereby; the restraint includes a slot to fasten the restraint to a buttonhole.
Thus there is a need for a device to secure a necktie to the front of a wearer's garment, which device can be readily used and removed, without damaging the tie, which secures the tie near the garment front, allows movement of the tie, and which can be concealed from the view of one who is viewing the wearer. The present invention describes a device and method for securing a necktie to the front of a buttoned shirt.
The present invention describes a reusable device compatible with neckties having a horizontal label or loop on it's posterior face. The present invention does not puncture the fabric of the tie, and does not interfere with the aesthetic presentation of the tie's anterior face.